MUMBAI, India -- Three coordinated bombings tore through the heart of India's busy financial capital during rush hour Wednesday, killing 21 people in the worst terror attack in the country since the 2008 Mumbai siege. The attacks came just months after peace talks resumed between India and Pakistan, which New Delhi has blamed for past attacks.

Blood-covered bodies lay on Mumbai streets and people hugged and wept. Others carried the wounded to taxis. Crowds gathered in the blast areas as police questioned witnesses, and bomb squads inspected the undercarriages of vehicles searching for clues and other explosives.

Assange fights extradition

LONDON -- Lawyers for Julian Assange on Wednesday focused their fight against the WikiLeaks chief's extradition to Sweden on technicalities -- trying to punch holes through the warrant seeking his arrest.

Assange is wanted in Sweden for questioning on allegations of rape and molestation, a prosecution he and his supporters claim is being manipulated to political ends -- possibly with an eye toward sending him to the United States, where he's being investigated by a grand jury.

But there was no talk of conspiracy at the appeal hearings held at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, where Assange is seeking to overturn a judgment ordering him to Sweden. On Feb. 24, a British District Court judge sided with Swedish prosecutors, saying there is no reason to believe Assange wouldn't receive a fair trial in Sweden.

Murdoch ends bid for BSkyB

LONDON -- Rupert Murdoch's dream of controlling a British broadcasting behemoth evaporated Wednesday as he withdrew his bid for BSkyB -- the latest, biggest casualty of what Prime Minister David Cameron called the hacking ''firestorm'' sweeping through British politics, media and police.

Cameron appointed a senior judge to lead an inquiry into the phone hacking and police bribery scandal engulfing Murdoch's British newspapers, and promised it would investigate whether Murdoch's reporters sought the phone numbers of 9/11 victims in their quest for sensational scoops.